Amari Bailey, dominant defense help power UCLA to beatdown of Oregon State
Amari Bailey exploded for a career-high 24 points, the UCLA defense allowed a season-low for opponent points, and the seventh-ranked Bruins trounced Oregon State on the road Thursday night for a 62-47 victory.
The win moved the Bruins to 20-4 on the season and 11-2 in Pac-12 play. It was the third time this season the UCLA defense held its opponent under 50 points. And Oregon State was lucky to scrounge together the 47 points it got; Through the game’s first 35 minutes, the Beavers (9-16, 3-11 Pac-12) had scored 30 points.
Oregon State closed the game on a 17-5 run, but considering it was trailing by 27 points with 4:41 to play, it was too little too late.
UCLA opened the game with seven first-half turnovers and misses on 10 of its first 17 shots, but still managed to take a 13-point lead into the halftime break.
The second half became the Bailey show.
UCLA’s dynamic first-year guard from Chicago dropped 18 points — just one off his previous career-high — in the game’s final 20 minutes. He scored 10 of UCLA’s first 13 points to open the second half.
Then, later in the half as UCLA built its largest lead of the game, Bailey scored four consecutive baskets to give UCLA a 57-30 edge with 4:41 remaining. Bailey got it done on both ends during that stretch, setting up the middle two baskets of the run with a steal in the defensive half and a rebound.
Bailey’s 24 points were the most in a single game by a UCLA freshman since the 2016-17 season.
UCLA will close out its road trip with a game against Oregon on Saturday (7 p.m. PT, ESPN).
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨. 2️⃣0️⃣.
Let's roll back Thursday's highlights from UCLA's 62-47 win at Oregon State's Gill Coliseum.#GoBruins 🏀🎥 pic.twitter.com/vjpYzv2oAZ
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 10, 2023